Part 45 (1/2)

Ahead, a fork of lightning stabbed an oak tree alongside the road with an eardrum-splitting crack! Hot branches flew like shrapnel, and the shattered, smoking trunk teetered and began to fall toward the road.

Jackson floored the accelerator.

”Watch out!” Tanya said, in a high-pitched voice. She covered her eyes.

In his peripheral vision, Jackson saw the giant tree falling toward him; it would smash the car to pieces if it struck them. But he could not have stopped if he'd wanted to. Adrenaline propelled him to push the engine to the maximum.

The oak missed the car's rear b.u.mper by only a foot. The tree crashed against the ground with such force that the car bounced a few inches in the air and rattled his teeth.

”Are you crazy?” Tanya said. ”You could've killed us!”

”I ain't ready to die yet,” Jackson said. ”Got too much work to do tonight to have time to die.”

Tanya opened her mouth, and he heard the beginnings of a first-cla.s.s cussout coming his way, but then she clapped her mouth shut, folded her arms across her chest, and slid down in the seat.

”Bet you'll ride with someone else next time,” Jackson said. He chuckled. Maybe he was losing his mind. He couldn't really see the humor in the situation, but he couldn't stop the laugh from escaping him. He'd heard the saying that when things got tough, you laughed to keep from crying. Maybe that was what he was doing, laughing to keep from crying. Or laughing to keep from dying.

At home in the den, Jahlil discovered that almost all of his father's firearms were gone. The only ones left in the gun cabinet were Jahlil's own pump-action Mossberg shotgun, which he used for hunting, and a pellet gun that Jahlil had used as a kid to take target practice at soda cans.

A pellet gun, for G.o.d's sake.

”Dammit!” Jahlil slammed his fist against the cabinet door. ”I betcha Dad gave all our s.h.i.+t to the people on those patrol teams”

”Now what we gonna do, man?” Poke said. His face was greasy with sweat. ”I ain't got no guns, my pops took all of 'em when he moved out”

”Figures,” Jahlil said. He chewed his lip. Think! ”Okay, look. We're gonna have to work as a team. I'll use the shotgun-”

”-man, that's bulls.h.i.+t-” Poke said.

'-I'm not finished, all right?” Jahlil said. ”Just listen. I'll use the gun, and we'll make some Molotov c.o.c.ktails. When we see a bloodsucker, I'll plug him, to slow him down, and then you'll light him up with the c.o.c.ktail. We'll be like a tag team. Get it?”

”h.e.l.l, naw,” Poke said. ”I need me a motherf.u.c.king gun. Why you get to carry the shotgun?”

” 'Cause it's mine,” Jahlil said. He offered the pistol to Poke. ”Use this. It's better than nothing. Carry it for backup. All any of these guns can do is slow down these bloodsuckers anyway, they won't kill them”

”I'm gonna get me a real piece before we're through,” Poke said. His lips curled in disgust, Poke s.n.a.t.c.hed the pellet gun from Jahlil and holstered it in his waistband. ”Gimme some ammo, man”

In the ammunition drawer, the only ammo left was for the pellet gun, and the Mossberg. He scooped up two handfuls of pellets and handed them to Poke, then loaded the shotgun. Once it was loaded, he unzipped his duffel bag and dumped the remaining ammo inside. The bag already held a flashlight, a knife, a first aid kit, and several books of matches. Jahlil wanted to be prepared for anything.

Thunder rumbled. Poke checked outside the window.

”What do you see out there?” Jahlil said. Night had fallen, and someone might attack them at any second. ”Someone coming?”

”We got a storm coming,” Poke said. No sooner had he spoken the words than a gale of wind skirled around the house. The ceiling light in the den wavered.

”Go to the kitchen and get some candles,” Jahlil said. ”They're in the drawer by the refrigerator. We can't be without light. We still have to make those c.o.c.ktails.”

”Got it.” Poke shuffled to the stairs. Did he have to walk so slowly? Jahlil wanted to put his foot up his a.s.s to get him moving. Well, they'd always called him Poke for a reason. He moved like a slug.

Jahlil was starting to get a headache. It was the same kind of pounding-behind-the-eyes pain that he would get whenever he was taking an exam for which he hadn't studied. It was solely due to stress.

The screaming gust beat a tattoo against the walls. Thunder steamrolled across the night, and Jahlil saw flickers of lightning coming in through the curtains, as though someone were taking photos outside.

”Man, hurry up!” Jahlil said. He didn't like being alone down there, not when he understood what awaited them outdoors.

Poke returned to the den with a single, half-melted candle.

”Only found one in there” Poke shrugged. ”Guess your daddy raided the crib of all the useful s.h.i.+t today.”

”No s.h.i.+t,” Jahlil said. ”Well, let's go in the garage to make these c.o.c.ktail things so we can get out of here.”

The door on the far side of the room opened into the twocar garage. Jahlil flipped the light switch beside the door. The light did not turn on.

Behind them, the light in the den winked out.

Jahlil cursed under his breath. Could it get any worse? Nothing was going their way.

”Gimme some light, man, hurry up,” Poke said. He was so close that Jahlil could smell the Doritos on his breath.

Jahlil clicked on the flashlight. He struck a match and lit the candle that Poke clutched in both hands as though it were the Holy Grail or something.

Jahlil panned the light beam around the garage, searching for the red-and-yellow can of gasoline. It was in the corner, beside the John Deere lawn mower.

Jahlil picked up the gasoline container.

It really could get worse for them. The can was empty.

Junior could not wait any longer. He had to see Vicky Queen.

Ever since the medical people had pushed Vicky into quarantine and rolled her into the room at the end of the hallway, Junior had been unable to keep his attention away from her door. But it was too far away for him to peek inside. He would have to go back there to get a good look at her.

He just wanted to make sure she was doing okay, that's all. It wasn't as though his team needed him right now. One woman, named Maria, handled checking in all the sick people, and the rest of the group only sat around, talking about stuff going on in town. Things were going slow, but that might change soon. He wanted to see Vicky while he still had the chance.

Ron, one of the team members, winked at Junior.

”You're thinking about that woman, ain't you, Junior?”

”Huh? What woman?” Junior played dumb. He didn't like for people to know his business.

Ron smiled. ”You know who I mean. Vicky Queen. The finest piece of a.s.s in this town. Don't be ashamed, I've been thinking about her, too”

”What you mean?” Junior asked cautiously.

”She's sleep like all the rest of these folks, man. How about we sneak back there and get a look at her t.i.tties? She got them nice, big, round t.i.tties, nipples like Hershey's Kisses. We can suck on 'em a little bit, you take one, I take the other-'

Junior seized Ron by his s.h.i.+rt and drove him backward. The back of Ron's head smacked the wall. The guy yelped, like a panicked puppy.